


Days Go By

by bitnari



Series: Days Go By [1]
Category: OMORI (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-15
Updated: 2021-01-15
Packaged: 2021-03-13 13:35:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28779150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bitnari/pseuds/bitnari
Summary: It's been two years, they've grown up, and friendships eventually fade away with time. But it is in their nature to meet once more. Follow the OMORI gang as they navigate young adulthood, wavering relationships, and past trauma while attending Faraway University!** All events occur after the True Ending of the game. Not spoiler free!Content warnings:- All warnings shown at the beginning of the OMORI game: depictions of depression and anxiety, moments of violence, and potential suicidal ideation / self-harm.
Series: Days Go By [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2109975
Comments: 14
Kudos: 75





	Days Go By

**Author's Note:**

> in which there is a flashback and a jump to the present

“I have to tell you something.” The words escape my mouth despite how difficult it is to walk, and I can feel myself collapsing. I see everyone in the room freeze for a moment to take in my presence, covered in bandages from head-to-toe and limping along so that I can get closer to them. 

Hero rushes over and wraps an arm around me, providing his shoulder for me to brace myself against and helping me each step until I manage to make it to the foot of the hospital bed, where Basil lays perfectly still. He stares back at me through the slits of his eyelids, but the fear is clearly stitched across his face, his lip quivering and his nose twitching as I open my mouth once more. “I have something to say.”

“What is it, Sunny?” Hero’s voice is comforting and warm, as if I’m about to share a dark secret that I’ve been keeping to myself all of these years, and that he’d need to be the first one to support me in my time of need. It’s good that he’s reacting that way because that’s exactly what’s about to happen. The ever-present smile on Kel’s face is replaced by a frown and furrowed eyebrows, and when I look towards him, he weakly smiles back at me despite the worry etched into his expression. Aubrey stands a little farther off from the rest of the group, leaning against a wall and staring pointedly and directly at the ground, but you can tell that she’s listening by the way she’s standing absolutely still.

I take a breath. “I killed her.”

I watch as everyone’s expressions simultaneously melt away into confusion, and I force myself to continue despite the regret already rising up in my chest. 

“I killed Mari. I shoved her down the stairs by accident, and then without knowing what to do I hung her on the tree to make it look like a suicide.” My body is shuddering and each word escapes my mouth as if it were text scribbled across a page in anguish, shaky hands and shaky breaths. By this point, even the bedpost that I’m bracing against can’t hold me up, and I start to fall to the ground. “I did it.” I repeat it again. “I did it. I did it…. I'm sorry.” My hand reaches up to grab the cloth of my shirt at my chest, trying to clench away the pain. My eyes bore into the ground, and I can’t bring myself to look up, knowing that Hero’s watching over me. I feel as if tendrils are holding me down in my current position, and I can feel the presence of something watching me, judging and waiting for me to succumb to despair. I can already see Aubrey staring back in disbelief, Kel clenching his teeth unable to say a word, and Basil closing his eyes to act like he’s asleep. Slowly, after a few more breaths, I start to look up, and I see Hero clenching his fist while squeezing his eyes shut. He’s biting his lip, and his face is red. He looks like he’s about to cry even though he’s trying his best to keep it in. I begin to cry instead, feeling the knot in my chest begin to release with each glob of tears trailing down my face.

“Hero…” I manage to croak out before something suddenly slams against my face. My vision blurs, and a throbbing pain rings through my head as I begin to register the screams of my friends, the thuds of Aubrey and Kel’s feet as they run over to hold Hero back who’s trying to go for one more punch. I’m propped up by my arms, and my feet weakly push against the floor as I try to scoot myself away from him, but eventually I’m so tired that I can’t go any further. Everything’s starting to spin, and I don’t know what to think anymore. Eventually, my arms give out and my head falls onto the ground, thudding against the floor of the hospital. All I hear is the ringing in my ears and the occasional words that find their way in between.

“Bastard!... You… murderer!” Hero could kill me right now, and I’d accept it. He deserves retribution more than anyone else. I did this to him, I caused him this pain.

“Stop!.... Hero!!... Stop!” Kel’s voice rings out in desperation, trying to bring his brother back to his senses, but everyone knows that he can’t do anything to stop him. 

“Mari… you… shouldn’t… do… sit… down!” Aubrey continues to talk about Mari despite the fact that she’s dead. She wouldn’t have wanted this, she wouldn’t have wanted you to kill her younger brother, she wouldn’t have let you do this, Hero… or at least that’s what Aubrey thinks my sister would say at this moment.

“How could you? How could you? How could you? How could you?” Hero’s voice wavers until the sounds of struggling gradually stop. There’s a soft thump, and maybe that’s him falling to the ground, onto his knees, devastated.

And then my thoughts fade to black, just like before. I’m beginning to lose consciousness. Despite the pain shooting through my whole body and the throbbing from where Hero punched me, a sense of relief washes over me.  _ I finally did it. Whether they hate me or not, I finally told the truth. _

* * *

I wake up the next morning in my hospital bed and no one by my side, even the plants that were once there are now gone. The sunlight filters in through the window, landing right on my face and leaving after images in my vision. My upper body is propped up by some pillows, and I scan the room with my eyes before they land on my phone, blinking with a notification. I can barely grab it with the pain still throbbing across my body and the bandages binding my movement.

I turn on the screen to see a few texts from Kel.

> Kel: “this isnt your fault sunny”
> 
> Kel: “hero’s just been through a tough time.”
> 
> Kel: “i forgive you"

And then a few minutes later.

> Kel: “did you really do it though? like… really?”

My fingers tremble as I type out with one finger, y-e-s, and then I hit send as my phone slips out of my hand. Kel’s response is almost immediate, and although I don’t have the strength to pick up my phone, I pivot my head to be able to see the screen. 

> Kel: “dang… ok”

* * *

Maybe it was because he felt awkward afterwards, but Kel never sent me another text after his last one, and I didn’t really have a reason to text him either. No contact from Aubrey, obviously no communication with Hero, but Basil did text me something about how “brave” I was to tell the truth. Honestly, if the reward for bravery is estrangement, then maybe it wasn’t all that worth it after all. Still, it feels like a weight has lifted itself off of my shoulders, and I’m almost glad that I managed to tell the full truth before my eventual move away from town. At least they’ll have some time to grieve and find some space to not interact with me. I can’t blame them. I wouldn’t want to interact with me either.

* * *

It isn’t that difficult to get into Faraway University, and the in-state benefits are great. Academics weren’t ever particularly difficult for me, but being a truant for three years really sets a burgeoning student back. Namely, my grades were pretty bad, but at the very least, I got into a four-year college, and here I am unpacking my luggage to fill up my blank and empty dorm room. I fill up my dresser with clothes, I put a fitted sheet over my rickety spring wire dorm bed, and eventually, all of my things are put in their respective locations. But the room still looks completely vacant, almost like a hospital. It isn’t exactly encouraging scenery, and I make a mental note to at least get a poster or something to make it feel like I live here… not that I’m one for decorations anyways.

Orientation week has been a long journey: meeting all sorts of people that I know I won’t talk to again, familiarizing ourselves with the expansive campus, and participating in nightly group meetings with our freshman counselors. The latter activity is an issue because through a twist of fate, I found myself face-to-face with Hero, my former childhood friend, who is now my freshman counselor. I forgot that he went here too. The interaction went something like this:

> Hero: “Oh… Sunny. It’s you!” 
> 
> _ (The air is so thick that I could cut it with a knife.) _
> 
> Me: “Hi Henry.” 
> 
> Hero: “That’s… so formal! We already know each other… you can call me--”
> 
> Me: “I have a few questions about my schedule. Could you tell me what class I should take as a prospective psychology major?”
> 
> Hero: “Oh-- uh… Intro Psych definitely… and maybe Developmental Psychology, PSYC 140, to fulfill requirements.”
> 
> Me: “Cool, thanks.”
> 
> _ (I begin to leave, but he grabs my wrist. And I know that he knows that I hate that. I turn to look at him, a little bit more hostility in my stare. He stutters through his next words, and there's the slightest hint of a shudder in his tone. Maybe he's about to cry. Typical.) _
> 
> Hero: “It’s been a while… I just want to say… sorry.”
> 
> Me: “It’s fine. At least you didn’t give me a concussion, that would’ve been permanent.”

And then his grip on my wrist loosens enough for me to pull away from him. Both Hero and I have developed a skill for hiding our emotions. I do it out of self-preservation and repression while he does it to not burden others. So group meetings are surprisingly smooth, we somehow keep to ourselves, avoid eye contact, and act like we don’t know each other. I could request to have my counselor changed, but I think that would reflect poorly on Hero, and I’m not out to have vengeance on him. 

At first, I fell back into my old habits. The old sorrow and loneliness that consumed me without the presence of my friends. But after moving, and after healing from getting punched in the face, the emotional pain all faded away. I never wanted to see them again, and I’m sure they didn’t want to see me again either. We don’t owe each other anything, and we don’t have an obligation to continue friendships that will inevitably be more toxic than supportive. I thought it would be hard to cut the threads that tied us together, but it was surprisingly simple. Although alarming at first, even the initial fight-or-flight adrenaline of meeting Hero again has dissipated as well. It doesn’t matter to me anymore. He doesn’t matter to me anymore. He might as well be a stranger. It doesn’t change the fact that he took a fist to my head, but it doesn’t change the fact that I killed his childhood sweetheart either. Again, I don't blame him. I would've done the same too, or maybe even worse.

Apology accepted, Hero. Now that we have that put aside, we can act like we don’t know each other again.

My phone lights up, and I read the preview notification on the lock screen absent-mindedly until I realize who the message is from.

> Kel: “sunny! i didn’t know you’re here at FAU! i’m here too!! we should… catch up sometime?”

I swipe away the message, reminding myself to block his contact later.

> Kel: “hero told me that you’re with his froco group! that’s cool”

I swipe it away again.

> Kel: “it’s crazyyy how we’re all in the same place!”
> 
> Kel: “aubrey and basil are here too”

I consider if it’s possible to drop out only after a few days into the semester, and then I make a mental note to avoid any basketball courts, batting rings, or gardens. There are thousands of people on campus, and maybe if I lay low, I won’t ever have to run into them.

> Kel: “uhh… we’re still friends… right?”

I block him and flop onto my bed. And then I fall asleep.

**Author's Note:**

> chapters will be longer from here on out, but I wanted to put myself out there first! I really like complex character relationships, so expect a lot of that, and although most of this will be written from Sunny's perspective, I can imagine some chapters might be from the perspectives of others.
> 
> I don't have any ships that I ship at the moment, so that will be put aside until it's figured out... but I will say that my favorite character is Hero :')))


End file.
